At the foot of the Torre del Saliente, in a corner of the citadel of Almería, there are more than a thousand years written in stone.
At its base, there is a section of rammed earth dated from the 10th century, the main structure is from the 13th century and the embrasures from the Christian period that allowed the inclusion of artillery beyond the 16th century.
There are hardly any details left of the retouching after the earthquake of 1707 or the Carlist wars of the 19th century, but the masonry lining that was added in the 20th century to provide stability or the offices that were built then stand out.
Also a rammed earth reinforcement installed just a few months ago, still with the marks of the wood from the formwork.
"Now you can see all the scars on the wall," says architect Pedro Gurriarán,
who, together with a team of archaeologists and quantity surveyors, has eliminated the historicist restoration on the entire north canvas of the enclosure to return it to its origins.
It is the same path that the main walls of a space will follow that has 7.4 million euros for its rehabilitation, the largest investment in the history of this Asset of Cultural Interest.
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Almería, calm at the foot of the Alcazaba
With a little urbanized environment today, the Alcazaba of Almería —the most visited monument in the province, with 255,000 people in 2019— reflects the splendor of the old city and offers beautiful views of the current one, with the neighborhood of La Chanca and the Mediterranean at your feet.
With a perimeter of almost a kilometer and a half, it was built in the 10th century on top of an old emirate settlement two centuries earlier on a high hill near the port, the most important in Al-Andalus.
It has huge walls that protected first the rulers and then the residents.
It reached the 20th century with military use.
And, in a dilapidated state, it passed into public hands after the Civil War.
Then it was restored for four decades.
Under the baton of the architect Prieto-Moreno,
elegant gardens were invented through which water now runs and the chameleon is camouflaged, buildings were completely rebuilt and the ocher color was emphasized on the walls.
They wanted to replicate the Alhambra.
General view of the monument last February.
/ NACHO SANCHEZNacho Sanchez
“Francoism opened up to tourism and a romantic image had to be offered, especially in the area that appeared in the photos, the south”, recalls quantity surveyor Pedro García, a basic part of works that focus on restoring, but also on eliminating the actions that were carried out then "without archaeological criteria", as Gurriarán points out while walking next to the portentous north defensive wall.
It is a wall almost 200 meters long and eight meters high that already bears those scars that reveal its history.
In the rock skin there are more surprises.
Particularly noteworthy is the recovery of its original white color, the result of the lime plasters that the Islamic master builders applied to embellish the building.
“We have become accustomed to picturesque images of brown fortresses, but at least here it was not true: the wall was white”,
says Gurriarán.
"It must have acted almost like a lighthouse when it reflected the sun," adds the specialist with fascination.
She was periodically whitewashed.
Also the houses inside the enclosure, a tradition inherited by the Andalusian white villages of today.
The historical reading of the north wall allows us to observe the direction in which its builders spread the lime.
And in an area that still has the 600-year-old plaster almost intact, you can see an amulet drawn.
It is believed that it was done to protect the place, as explained by the archaeologist Jesús de Haro.
Now the mixture of the first buildings from a millennium ago based on mud walls in white tones with the additions of the 15th century in a darker tone is visible.
The ashlars installed in the times of the Catholic Monarchs still reflect the marks of the stonemasons.
Stratigraphic studies, documents and carbon 14 tests have made it possible to date each work area, where precise actions have been carried out with à la carte mortars based on the techniques and materials of each century, such as the recently installed mortar in the Torre del Saliente.
Engravings in the stone of a wall of the citadel. Nacho Sanchez
They are works integrated into the original construction, but differentiated and located at different levels in accordance with the Historical Heritage Law and which represent the pages that the 21st century writes on these walls.
They won't be the last.
"If in the future there is more information, better materials or techniques, they can be undone," says Gurriarán.
“We have worked with lead feet”, underlines the director of the monumental complex, Gema Embi.
The scaffolding of the northern section was removed days before the Christmas holidays, but it is already installed very close to cover the Muralla de la Vela, where the works will start in the next few days.
It is the next phase of some rehabilitation work that will be intense until 2024 and will have 7.4 million from European funds from the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism, in addition to the three invested by the Andalusian Government since 2019. The actions aim to complete the second section of the north wall, bring to light the original construction of the south wall —400 meters long— as well as reform the water supply system.
Finally, it will be the turn of the defensive wall of the San Cristóbal hill, which today shows a smooth concrete surface that was added in the middle of the last century.
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